


Angel

by xofunghoul



Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018) Actor RPF
Genre: Dear Sidewalk AU, M/M, Postman!Joe, angel!Ben
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:09:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22118413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xofunghoul/pseuds/xofunghoul
Summary: Ben is a mutant with beautiful white feather wings and he develops a little crush on his postman.
Relationships: Ben Hardy/Joe Mazzello
Comments: 10
Kudos: 27
Collections: Hardzzello Week 2019





	Angel

**Author's Note:**

> Piece for Day 6 of Hardzzello week. Angel prompt.  
> This fic is a gift for Three (@vla2three on instagram) She's an amazing artist and y'all should follow her!  
> The art is hers.

Suburbia USA was doing wonders for feathered wing Ben Jones and his anonymity. He recently moved from London to a small town in America, full of picturesque characters, mostly old people that really didn’t pay much attention to the young mutant’s huge wings. It didn’t seem to bother any of them. So, Ben’s life is pretty uneventful and he prefers it that way. He prefers being bored out of his mind rather than get out and face the world and have people stare at him. He generally has a cool, maybe even cheeky exterior but it’s all a front so no one gets too close. Deep down and behind lock doors, he’s a ball of anxiety and loneliness that he doesn’t let anyone to see. He has no one in his life after all anyway. 

The only remotely interesting thing that has happened to him since he’s moved to this small town is Joe. 

When he saw his new postman, the first thing that caught his attention was the fact that he was the first young person he saw in this town. He looked around his age or maybe a little older than him but definitely not an old person, which intrigued Ben. He almost didn’t get out of the house that first time, but his curiosity got the best of him and as soon as he saw him approaching his mailbox next to the door, he went out to greet him. The man flinched at him when he opened his front door and leaned on the frame, and Ben wondered why. His wings were out of sight, so it wasn’t that. He seemed just a little uncomfortable, but Ben smiled anyway when he greeted him. The man fleeted away quickly that first time which got Ben even more curious so for the next few days he peeked outside to greet and it was always the same. Ben smiling and chatting, making jokes, the postman, flinching and hurrying the conversation so he can go. 

Until one day, Ben stood outside waiting for him on his porch. Wings in full swing, in the same manner he’s always done it, leaning on his door but now, with the wings fully visible. Joe walked towards him, looking down on the floor as always and he only noticed him standing there when he got a few steps away from the porch. 

“Hey buddy.” Ben said to make Joe finally look up and he did. He tilted his head for a moment, looking at him but his general expression wasn’t too different from his usual one. He didn’t seem horrified or scared. Ben thought that was a good sign. 

“Hi. Here.” He handed Ben the stack of unimportant envelops and simply nodded. “Well-- have a nice day.” 

“Do you mind--” Ben interrupted him as he was turning to walk away. “If I walk with you for a bit? I need to stretch my--” He said, opening his wings in full and then said. “Legs.”

Joe looked at him and chuckled silently. Another good sign. “Okay, sure.”

And that was the first time of many that they would walk around the town together on Joe’s route. Ben would keep him company pretty much daily. In the beginning he only asked nosy questions, and would tease him for his neurotic and nitpicky way of doing things. Other times he would ask Joe to let him deliver some mails. He even stole his little hat one time and said hi to the old lady with all the rockets, announcing that he was going to be his new postman from now on because Joe had vanished mysteriously, but Joe was running after him in no time and yanking the hat out of his head, correcting him quickly. 

And just like that, they started to spend a lot more time together. The walks got a little longer, the conversations a little deeper and even though Ben didn’t open up completely to Joe yet, the shy man was making him feel something that he thought he would never feel about another person. He wasn’t exactly sure what that feeling was, it’s not something he’s ever felt before and he can’t quite explain it but whenever he’s with Joe, the emptiness that he’s felt his whole life from being misunderstood and casted away was now filled with something warm. 

“I had a dream last night, that I was starting my route and when I took the first stack of envelopes I noticed it was blank. The whole mail was blank.” 

Joe said right before he bit into his sandwich, overlooking the town’s lake nearby Ben’s house where they’re having lunch together. Ben doesn’t think he just told him this because he’s looking for a meaning. He’s just sharing with him something about himself. Something personal. He’s noticed in all their walks and talks that Joe is rather different about the way he expresses himself. There’s no double meaning, no hidden agenda. He’s just straight forward and says the first thing that pops into his mind without much thought. 

“What would you do if that actually happened?” Ben asks, sitting right next to him, biting on his own sandwich, his head turned to Joe’s side and his wings shielding them from the sun. 

“That’s impossible and would never happen.” Joe answers point blank.

“I know that, but what if--”

“It was just a dream Ben.” 

Ben chuckles. “Okay, never mind, sorry I asked.” 

There’s a bit of silence but it’s not uncomfortable at all. Quite the contrary. They keep eating and staring at the lake in front of them until Joe breaks the silence. 

“Why did you move out here?” He asks bluntly and it’s the first time he asks him a personal question. Ben hesitates and his instinct is to keep the walls up and keep Joe outside. It’s nice like this, isn’t it? He doesn’t need to know about the darkness in him. About the sadness in him. 

“I ran away from my parents.” But that’s the answer he gives him. The honest one. Because maybe he does want to let Joe in a little. Because what if he wants to stay. What if he’s the light that he’s missing. 

“Oh-- why?” Joe doesn’t hesitate.

“I’m pretty sure they hate me.”

“They’re your parents Ben. I’m sure that’s not true.” He says softly, this isn’t a tone Joe’s used on him before. He’s usually annoyed with him but this is different and it’s nice. “What makes you think they hate you?” 

Ben pauses for a few seconds and Joe’s look is intently on him. He doesn’t look back at the redhead when he gives him the answer. “I chose to keep my wings. I could’ve had them removed, there was a procedure but I chose to keep them. They always told me it was my choice but-- I know they were disappointed. They thought I was selfish and choosing my wings over them. They hid me away. “

“You hide them too, your wings. You hid them the first few times I saw you. Why did you chose to keep them, then?”

“I hid them because I didn’t want to scare you off of the bat. And I decided to keep them because they’re a part of me, you know? Even if I hate them sometimes, I just can’t clip them off.” Ben says with all honesty and the wall is definitely no longer there. He’s teared it down for Joe.

“I think they’re beautiful.” Joe says with such an endearing smile that Ben feels he’s about to burst into tears. No one’s ever called his wings beautiful before. He doesn’t even see them that way. “And they look very pretty on you.” He puts his sandwich down and relocates so he’s sitting facing Ben’s side. He lifts a hand towards the wings next to him and looks Ben in the eye. “Can I--?”

Ben swallows hard but nods and Joe strokes his feathers softly, looking at them lovingly and the wings, having a mind of their own, the one that’s on Joe’s side envelops him and soon the other one joins and they’re both warmly hugged by the white feathers. Ben moves a little closer to Joe so their faces are merely inches away. He tilts Joe’s face towards himself by the chin with his thumb and index finger but Joe doesn’t move.

“Do you--?” He asks instead, and it’s the first time Ben sees Joe hesitate or wonder about what he’s about to say next. “Do you know how love feels like? I’ve never-- I don’t think I’ve ever loved anyone. Not really. And it scares me.”

“I’ve never loved anyone before either.” Ben says softly and their faces are still so very close and he wants to wipe away Joe’s fears with his lips. “But we could figure it out together if you’d want to.” 

Joe nods. “I think I’d like that.” 

Ben brings their lips together in a placid, almost chaste kiss and whatever fear, whatever darkness and emptiness that was there inside of him and had been there all his life is suddenly gone and replaced with the strongest feeling he’s ever felt before that fills every corner of his being. He feels it everywhere, right between his toes and the spaces between his feathers. It wraps every single one of his bones and caresses all the goosebumps on his skin. It colors his cheeks and he can even feel it in every fiber of his hair. 

And if this isn’t want love is, maybe he doesn’t want to know what it is. He’d very much rather have this instead, whatever this is. 

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you think in the comments, please!


End file.
